Picture Book
by Simply Red
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Simply Red bestography
Picture Book is ranked as the best album by Simply Red.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Picture Book on YouTube
Picture Book track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Picture Book rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 48 Music Albums of 1985 | 42/48 | 1 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Decade 1980s Pt 2 | 86/100 | - |
| 2026 |  videoheadcleaner | Top 100 Music Albums of 1985 | 78/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | Moondance | Top 100 Music Albums of 1985 | 5/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Top 49 Music Albums of 1985 | 39/49 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Glitterboiii | Top 50 Music Albums of 1985 | 24/50 | 3 |
| 2026 |  imacgill | Top 100 Music Albums of 1985 | 51/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Helios | Top 90 Music Albums of 1985 | 56/90 | 2 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 56 Music Albums of 1985 | 45/56 | 1 |
| 2026 |  jeremy9 | Top 53 Music Albums of 1985 | 29/53 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 129 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 411 | |||
Picture Book collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 80 members
Picture Book ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 145 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 4 days ago | Exist-en-ciel | 16,517 | 70/100 |
| ! | 06/19/2026 08:07 | jeremy9 | 3,827 | 70/100 |
| ! | 05/11/2026 15:39 | Jakor | 5,550 | 70/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 25% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.3/100, a mean average of 70.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.3.
Picture Book favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 15 members
Picture Book forum mentions
albummaster 12/25/2025 10:26 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
Jboy56 02/08/2022 08:51 in What album are you listening to right now?Picture Book comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Holding is a justifiable classic and is the song that got this band famous. But its on tracks such as Picture book that shows Hucknall's talent - the man can flat out sing.
I think that this album is often overshadowed by Stars which is another excellent album. Simply Red isn't all about Mick Hucknall, yes he is a great vocalist and frontman but this band is made up of some great musicians too. This album mixes many styles incorporating jazz, rock, mood music to name but a few. 'Picture Book' is a personal favourite with almost prog like leanings.
This is one of those purchases because of radio time from the song "Holding Back The Years". Mick Hucknall has that soul sound voice and is a good songwriter. There are a couple songs that I like that I think most people find average, that is "Come To My Aid" and "Jericho".
(Edited)
zdwyatt TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/05/2015 20:59 | #147172 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
They would be a forgettable pop soul band but for Hucknall's singing and he was never better than he was here. This is a consistent collection with the standout "Holding Back the Years," which makes my list of best songs ever written.
Goliath 11/24/2018 11:41 | #225589 | TOP COMMENT
Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Some good tracks (1, 2 and 6), some filler and one of the best songs ever written.
The top-voted comments get featured on our charts, Album of the Day, and the site newsletter.
